Israel offering residency to African asylum seekers willing to fight in Gaza

Israel is offering African asylum seekers permanent residency status if they fight in the war on Gaza, Israeli news site Haaretz reported, based on personal accounts obtained.

Defence officials who spoke off the record said the system will be implemented in an organised fashion under the guidance of legal advisors in the defence establishment.

The plan has been heavily criticised over ethical concerns, mainly because the African asylum seekers will be risking their lives and also because to date, no asylum seekers taking part in the war on Gaza have been granted official status.

During the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, three asylum seekers were killed.

According to Haaretz, there are currently around 30,000 African asylum seekers in Israel, most of them young men.

Around 3,500 of them are Sudanese citizens with temporary status, with courts yet to rule on their applications.

Since Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip, many asylum seekers have volunteered for agricultural work, as well as in civilian command centres, and some in the Israeli military.

"Defence officials realised they could use the help of asylum seekers and exploit their desire to obtain permanent status in Israel as an incentive," the report in Haaretz states.

The report also cites one case, where an asylum seeker arrived in Israel at age 16 but was only given temporary status. Although this gave him most of the rights afforded to Israelis, it required him to have it renewed periodically.

The man then described getting a call from someone who claimed to be a police officer and telling him to report to a security facility, where he was told they were looking for people to join the army and that this was a "life-or-death war" for Israel.

The officials reportedly told the man there would be a two-week training period if he was drafted and that the pay he would receive for the military service would be similar to what he earned at his job.

The man said he does not know why he was selected and not others, but the security officials had said they were looking for "special" people.

Many have criticised the practice, claiming that Israel is exploiting people who have already fled their home countries due to war, but any shows of concern have been silenced, Haaretz reported.

They also stated that Israel’s interior ministry also explored the possibility of drafting the children of asylum seekers who had been educated in Israeli schools in the Israeli army.

In the past, Israel has allowed children of foreign workers to serve in the military in exchange for granting status to their immediate family members.

Israel's war on Gaza has totally devastated the enclave and killed at least 41,206 people and injured over 95,000.